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The Fujifilm FinePix T500's intent to bring a "travel zoom" compact to the market at an affordable price point sounds like a grand idea to us... but there's no word on the price as yet.

The T500, shown here in a fetching purple, well, an almost fetching purple, combines a 12x optical zoom lens with optical image stabilisation and a 16-megapixel CCD sensor. Plonk that into a thin and easy-to-pocket aluminium body and it looks like a potential budget winner to us. So long as the price is right.

The T500's lens delivers a 24-288mm equivalent zoom which is ideal for wide scenes or picking off medium distance subjects using the zoom.

A handful of built-in features pep-up the automated shooting modes, while the 2.7-inch 230k-dot LCD screen handles framing previews. Autofocus is also said to be 20 per cent faster than its T400 predecessor.

Not the most fully-featured of "travel zoom" compacts, but the T500 could well be a gem for the right price.